Pas de Deux
by BlackKitt
Summary: 'Her plié's were beautiful, her battements were perfect, her jeté's were exquisite and her pirouettes were flawless. She was the most graceful ballerina he had ever seen.' Seto Kaiba had not expected to see a dancer of her level and a high school talent show. He had also not expected her to be the most wonderful woman he had ever met. A Silentshipping request.
1. The Talent Show

**Pas de Deux**

**_Summary: _**'_Her plié's were beautiful, her battements were perfect, her jeté's were exquisite and her pirouettes were flawless. She was the most graceful ballerina he had ever seen.' Seto Kaiba had not expected to see a dancer of her level and a high school talent show. He had also not expected her to be the most wonderful woman he had ever met. A Silentshipping request._

**_Disclaimer: _**_Yu-Gi-Oh! is property of someone who isn't me._

**_Author's note: _**_Good evening, Silentshipping fans! I, BlackKitt, have returned to the Silentshipping community after an unplanned hiatus of a year and a half with a new story! This story was requested by me by fellow Silentshipper **loveSetoxSerenity4ever**. She wanted a story in which Serenity is a ballerina and impresses Seto with her dancing. I thought the idea was adorable, so she and I shared some thoughts and it resulted in this masterpiece! Well, maybe not a masterpiece, but I am very happy with how this is turning out so far. This is not only thanks to me, but also thanks to** loveSetoxSerenity4ever**, who helped a lot with the creative aspects of the story, and my new beta-reader, **Hug-The-Antihero**. She has helped me tremendously with spelling, my inevitable Dutch-to-English cultural errors and silly mistakes overall. She is an amazing beta and I am proud to call her a friend. Thank you for listening to my rambling, and please enjoy reading!_

* * *

_**Chapter 1: The Talent Show**_

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Seto Kaiba tried to ignore the stares and whispers from the people around him the best he could as he sat himself down on one of the uncomfortable seats in the back row of the auditorium. He placed his briefcase on the free seat beside him, thus making sure no one would bother to try and sit next to him. Ugh, how he hated public affairs such as this one.

Tonight was the Domino High Talent Show, and his younger brother Mokuba had signed up to perform with some of his classmates. When Mokuba had invited him to come see the show, Kaiba just hadn't been able to say no, although he now sincerely wished he had.

He sighed as he opened the program given to him by the far too cheerful lady at the entrance. The talent show was divided into four categories; first came Theatre, then Comedy, then Music and lastly Dance. Since Mokuba was going to break dance with his friends, he was in the last category, and Kaiba groaned when the program showed Mokuba would be the second last talent to perform. He had hoped Mokuba would be on stage as one of the first so he could leave once his little brother had performed. Now he would have to sit though the whole damn thing.

Kaiba huffed. This stupid show was going to take up hours of his precious time, and he still had a sizeable workload waiting for him back home. It seemed he was in for yet another sleepless night.

It took at least ten more minutes before the doors to the auditorium were closed and the lights were dimmed. A spotlight sprang to life, illuminating the red velvet curtain concealing the stage from view. From behind said curtain emerged a thin bald man wearing a turtleneck and overly large spectacles.

"Welcome, family and friends, to the sixteenth annual Domino High Talent Show!" he exclaimed enthusiastically into the microphone set for him on stage. Most of the audience members applauded his words. Kaiba was not one of them.

The man then introduced himself as the school's drama teacher, and went on to explain some things about the upcoming acts and the break in between the Comedy and Music categories.

"And now, without further ado, please welcome our first talent: Henry!"

The audience clapped again as the curtains were drawn back, revealing what appeared to be the décor of the third act of William Shakespeare's _Hamlet_. In the centre was a mousy boy with brown hair, quite obviously a freshman, dressed in the classic medieval costume of the title character.

"T-to be or n-not to be, that is the q-question," the boy managed to choke out, stage fright making it impossible for him to speak clearly.

Kaiba pinched the bridge of his nose. To sit through this entire talent show was one thing, but to hear such a beautiful monologue being butchered so brutally was absolute torture. The boy on stage didn't manage to say even one sentence without stuttering, failed to pronounce the old English words correctly and actually forgot his line halfway through his pathetic performance.

When he finally finished, he nearly ran off the stage, rightfully embarrassed by his sad display. The audience clapped for him out of politeness, but it was half-hearted applause at best. If this was any indication of the remainder of the evening, Kaiba would definitely need some painkillers when he got home.

Luckily, the acts that followed little Henry's were not as awful as his had been. Some others were nervous too, and it showed in their performances, but most kids were just trying to have fun. One pair of juniors actually pulled off an acceptable interpretation of the balcony scene from _Romeo and Juliet_. It was the only theatre act Kaiba applauded for.

After all the actors and actresses had performed, the stage was set up for the comedians. Kaiba never cared much for comedy, let alone the stand-up kind, so the half hour of talent after talent cracking lousy jokes seemed to last for an eternity. Out of all the comedians, there was only one who made Kaiba snicker: a ventriloquist boy named Jeff who used his dolls to make fun of himself.

When the Comedy category was finished, the drama teacher announced a fifteen-minute break for the audience. Most people went for a drink, as they had all been given a coupon for one free refreshment, but Kaiba didn't think the cheap wine the school served was worth getting up for, so he stayed in his seat.

After the break, it was time for the musicians to take the stage. In other words, it was time for the real torture to begin. Music was the largest category in the talent show, yet there were few who didn't make Kaiba wish he had brought earplugs with him. From shrill singing to badly tuned instruments, most of the talents had no idea what they were doing. Much to Kaiba's relief, none of them attempted anything too complicated like Bach or Mozart, for that would have made the torture complete.

The last off-key note of Celine Dion's _My Heart Will Go On_, sang by a blonde sophomore named Melissa, marked the end of the Music category. Kaiba sighed in relief. The only category left now was Dance, and it wasn't nearly as big as Music. If he was lucky, he'd be back home in an hour.

The Dance category started with a group of seniors performing something the overly-enthusiastic drama teacher announced to be 'street dance', which Kaiba wasn't familiar with and, he realized when the act ended, didn't particularly care for either.

After the first one, it took another eight acts before the drama teacher finally called the name of Mokuba's group, the B-Boys.

Despite the torture he had endured the past few hours, Kaiba couldn't help but crack a smile when his little brother jumped out from behind the curtain. He and his three friends were clad in identical baggy pants and overly large shirts, which Mokuba had explained were easier to move around in than regular clothes. Kaiba thought it looked ridiculous, but he hadn't said a word about the outfit when Mokuba had showed it to him a few days ago. Break dancing, it seemed, was something his kid brother enjoyed very much, so Kaiba had decided to support Mokuba the best he could, which included keeping his snarky remarks safely locked in the back of his mind.

The four boys took their stance, and loud music blared through the speakers in the auditorium. Mokuba and his friends sped around the podium, spinning around on their heads and performing some moves Mokuba had told him were called 'swipes' and 'floats'. Kaiba didn't know if their act was going as planned, as he didn't know how the strange moves were supposed to be executed, but since all four of them were doing the moves nearly perfectly in sync, he assumed everything was going smoothly.

After about four minutes, Mokuba and his three friends struck a pose just as the music ended, marking the end of their performance. The audience erupted in applause once again, only this time, Kaiba joined in, clapping as loudly as he possibly could for his little brother, who stopped and waved at the crowd before disappearing backstage again.

For the last time that evening, the red curtains were closed as the décor was changed for the final act. Kaiba briefly considered leaving, but he quickly decided against it. Mokuba probably wasn't ready to go yet anyway, and getting up right before the last performance would seem rude at best. Besides, he had already sat through what seemed like hundreds of acts, so just one more wouldn't kill him.

The curtains opened, revealing a background made to look like a simple medieval village. On stage was a girl with auburn haired tied in a bun, wearing a modest brown-and white costume and a pair of pointe shoes. From the looks of it, she was going to dance the solo from the first act of the ballet_ Giselle_. Kaiba had to repress a snort of disdain. It seemed yet another piece of art was going to be butchered by an ignorant teenager tonight.

As he had expected, the famous music by Adolphe Adam soon echoed through the auditorium. The ballerina bowed to the audience before she started her dance by lifting her arms over her head in a bras en couronne.

Kaiba watched, at first uninterested, but soon amazed, as she danced, floating around the stage as though she really was a peasant girl granted the opportunity to do what she loved most in front of the princess of Courtland. Her plié's were beautiful, her battements were perfect, her jeté's were exquisite and her pirouettes were flawless. She was the most graceful ballerina he had ever seen.

All too soon, the music stopped, and Giselle made a curtsey at the feet of an imaginary Bathilde, ending her dance. The audience, which was mostly ignorant towards fine arts such as ballet, gave her a modest applause as she bowed to them again before disappearing off the stage. Kaiba, who had completely forgotten to clap, was left to stare in wonder at the red curtains as the drama teacher walked to the centre of the podium and started his end-of-a-wonderful-evening-speech.

What was this girl doing here? Why was a ballerina of her level performing in a lousy high school talent show alongside people like Henry, the worst Hamlet ever? Why wasn't she making a living by dancing _Giselle_ in the largest theatres all over the world? Kaiba was mystified.

It was only after a few minutes of pondering the last act when he realized the audience had been dismissed, and a large number of people had already left the auditorium. Shaking the dazzling performance from his mind, Kaiba got up slowly and started to scan the room for his little brother, hoping to finally get home so he could get some work done.

He soon spotted Mokuba, who had luckily changed back into his normal attire, standing in a corner of the auditorium, talking to… Ugh, of course. The geek squad. Like this evening couldn't get any worse.

Knowing there was no way to avoid them, Kaiba started to make his way towards the group. He was about halfway there when a figure emerged from the stage door and was almost immediately pulled into a bear hug by Joey Wheeler. Kaiba froze where he stood. The figure was Giselle.

He stared, a bit dumbfounded, as she wrestled out of Joey's grasp and straightened her long hair. Then, a sudden realization, as well as a sense of disbelief washed over him. She was Wheeler's sister, the one who had been on the blimp in Battle City nearly five years ago. Kaiba blinked, not entirely sure his eyes weren't playing tricks on him. How could anyone related to Joey Wheeler be so graceful? It hardly made any sense.

Just then, she turned, a smile on her face, and looked him dead in the eye. For a moment, it seemed like time had stopped, until Yugi noticed what she was looking at and waved Kaiba over enthusiastically.

Kaiba groaned. This was definitely not his evening.

* * *

_And there you have it! Ah, it feels good to write Silentshipping again. For those of you waiting for an update on Random Stranger, don't worry, I'm working on it. The past year hasn't been very kind to me; in fact, I can honestly say it was the worst year of my life, and both the time and inspiration for writing has been very scarce. However, things have been looking up for me lately and this story has really helped me get my inspiration back. Since the chapters of this story are a lot shorter than those of Random Stanger (2000-3000 words as opposed to 6000-8000 words), I should be able to get out a fair number of chapters before I go to university on September 2nd. Thank you for reading, I hope to see you all again soon!_


	2. Giselle

**Pas de Deux**

_**Summary: **_'_Her plié's were beautiful, her battements were perfect, her jeté's were exquisite and her pirouettes were flawless. She was the most graceful ballerina he had ever seen.' Seto Kaiba had not expected to see a dancer of her level and a high school talent show. He had also not expected her to be the most wonderful woman he had ever met. A Silentshipping request._

**_Disclaimer: _**_Me no own Yu-Gi-Oh!_

**_Author's note: _**_Hello, and welcome back to 'Pas de Deux'! This second chapter was a bit delayed due to computer issues, but it is still my fastest update in years (which is kind of sad, really XD). I'm going to make an effort from now on to complete a chapter every two weeks (preferably sooner, of course). Also, this chapter had not been beta-read, as my beta reader **Hug-The-Antihero **is currently enjoying a nice holiday. Please bear with any mistakes you might find for now. So without further ado, please enjoy chapter 2!_

* * *

_**Chapter 2: Giselle**_

* * *

Serenity Wheeler closed her eyes contently as she flexed her feet and launched into a perfect pirouette. The skirt of her dress twirled upward as she spun, coming down a split second after she stopped turning and dipped into a graceful curtsey in front of the large mirror her drama teacher had provided the girls' changing area backstage with.

She got up and wiped a speck of dust from her tights, smiling serenely at herself in the mirror. Her self-made costume, her tights, her hairdo and her footwear were in all mint condition, and she had danced this scene from _Giselle__ so_ many times she could nearly dream the steps. Serenity was ready to perform at the Domino High Talent Show.

Still, there were a few butterflies fluttering around her stomach that she simply hadn't been able to get rid of. Despite having performed in front of others countless times before, Serenity couldn't help but feel slightly anxious every time she went on stage. This particular performance was making her feel a lot more nervous than usual, because tonight, her older brother Joey would see her dance for the very first time.

Ironically, Joey was the reason she had started dancing ballet in the first place. When she and her mother had moved away after her parents' divorce, she had cried for days, not leaving her room for anything but school and refusing to make friends with any of the neighborhood children. After a week of this, her mother, despite feeling sorry for her daughter, had insisted she find a hobby, hoping it would help ease the pain of losing her brother.

Serenity eventually settled on ballet, and to her surprise, she found that dancing did in fact take her mind off of Joey. When she danced, she felt like an entirely different person. A free, careless person. Though she knew she would never stop missing Joey, dancing ballet helped her cope with his absence.

She loved dancing ballet so much, she soon decided she wanted to do it for a living. Serenity knew not many ballerina's were able to make enough money to support themselves, but she also knew she was a good enough dancer to make it happen if she just trained hard enough.

And she did train hard enough. But sometimes, life's just not having it. At the age of twelve, Serenity began to lose her eyesight. She tried to keep dancing for as long as she could, but soon she couldn't even distinguish the barre anymore. She had no choice but to stop dancing.

All in all, the loss of her eyesight, the operation to fix it and the rehabilitation cost Serenity two years of her life.

In ballet, those two years made a world of difference. Even though Serenity caught up on her dancing, she had already reached the age of seventeen when she was ready to take the next step in her career. And that was two years too late.

Because of her short retirement from ballet, Serenity had not been able to peruse as many workshops and summer intensives as she would have liked, instead using all her time to catch up with the training she had missed. With little resume to speak of, none of the ballet companies she had applied to had even allowed her the chance to audition. They wanted girls the age of fifteen, perhaps sixteen if they were exceptionally good dancers, and they wanted them to have a lot more experience than Serenity currently had. She never stood a chance.

When she received the rejection letter from the last ballet company she had applied to, Serenity had been heartbroken. Feeling just as miserable as the day she had been separated from Joey, she began locking herself in her room again, barely talking to her mother at all. Luckily, like all those years before, her mother had known the perfect solution for this bout of depression too.

A week later, Serenity and her mother moved into their new apartment in Domino City, just three blocks away from Joey and Mai's place.

Now able to see her brother on a daily basis, Serenity had quickly cheered up. Though she mourned the loss of her dream, she realized there was a lot more she could do with her life, and she had recently applied for medical school at the local university. She now had her heart set on becoming an ophthalmologist, so she could help unfortunate people like she once had been to keep their eyesight. And though she couldn't take it to a professional level, there was no reason she couldn't keep dancing ballet recreationally.

Of course, recreational or not, when Joey had learned of his little sister's passion for ballet, he had insisted on seeing her dance at least once. As a result of that, Serenity had entered into the Domino High Talent Show, willing to perform in front of a crowd one last time to please her brother.

And so, here she was. As she would be the last talent to take the stage, she now had the girls' dressing area completely to herself, something she didn't mind in the least. After all, there was nothing more soothing before a performance than a little peace and quiet.

However, the peace and quiet didn't last. Before long, Serenity heard her drama teacher's voice outside the curtain separating the changing area from everything else backstage.

"Serenity, the B-Boys are up next. You're on in five!"

"Yes, Mr. Harris," Serenity called back. She checked her appearance in the mirror one last time before she pulled the curtain aside and joined her drama teacher at the far right offstage so she could watch the B-Boys perform their break dancing act.

Her good friend Mokuba, who was two grades below her, was part of the B-Boys, and he too had invited his older brother to come see his dance tonight. He had confided in her that he was really nervous about his brother watching him, and Serenity couldn't say she blamed him. She remembered Seto Kaiba from his tournament in Battle City, and she had gotten the impression he was not a very easy man to please.

But as Serenity watched Mokuba and his friends perform their routine, she knew even Seto Kaiba would have a hard time finding flaws. The four of them were amazing, pulling off complex moves and staying in sync nearly the entire time. When they struck a pose at the end of their routine, Serenity clapped loudly for them.

The B-Boys left the stage at the instructions of their drama teacher, who gave all four of them a well-deserved pat on the back. Mokuba passed Serenity with a wide smile on his face.

"Good job!" she told him earnestly.

"Thanks!" he said. "Good luck!"

He disappeared backstage with his friends, while Serenity waited tentatively for the stagehands to finish the final décor change of the evening. When everything was set, she took a deep breath and took her place at the center of the stage.

The curtains were drawn back, revealing to her the two hundred or so fellow students, friends and family members who had come to see the talent show. She noticed Joey and her friends had managed to snag front row seats, but she tried her best not to look at either of them, willing herself to become the character of Giselle. Sweet, gentle Giselle who could convince even the princess of Courtland of the beauty of dancing.

Her music started, and Serenity bowed to her audience. Soon she was dancing, floating along the stage happily, having forgotten the audience was even there at all. She was no longer Serenity Wheeler, a senior high school student performing an act at a talent show; she was Giselle, a simple peasant girl who had just been given the opportunity to do what she loved most in front of Bathilde, the princess of Courtland.

Only when the music had stopped and she graced the audience with another bow did Serenity return to reality. She glanced at her brother, who had gotten up from his seat and was clapping loudly, a huge smile on his face. Feeling a smile creep up her own face, Serenity quickly hurried offstage, where her drama teacher had just enough time to say "Brilliant!" to her before he had to go on stage to announce the end of the evening.

Serenity made her way back to the girls' changing area, her heart much lighter than it had been when she'd left it. She quickly changed into her jeans and t-shirt and freed her hair from its bun before she hurried to the auditorium, eager to hear what her brother had thought of her dancing.

When she entered the auditorium moments later, she had just enough time to establish it was already nearly empty before Joey pulled her into a rib-crushing hug.

"You were amazing, sis! I never thought you could move like that!"

"Thanks Joey," she choked, trying to pry her brother off of her. She finally managed to slip from his grasp, and she gasped for breath, fixing the strands of hair that had fallen out of place in his attack.

"Heh, sorry sis," Joey grinned awkwardly, "I'm just… so proud of you."

For a split second, Serenity thought she saw a tear shimmering in his eye, but he blinked it away so fast she wasn't sure if it had been real.

"Yeah, you were great, Serenity!" Tea beamed at her.

Serenity smiled. "Thank you, but I think Mokuba was even better!"

She turned to face the raven-haired boy, but instead caught the piercing blue eyes of a tall man standing a few meters away. She suddenly felt paralyzed, unable to look at anything but those penetrating pools of blue which seemed to look straight through her.

"Hey, Kaiba!" Yugi's voice jerked her back to reality. He was waving at the man she'd been staring at, and it was only now she realized he was, in fact, Seto Kaiba.

Kaiba stiffly walked towards them. "Yugi," he nodded in greeting.

Luckily, the awkwardness was immediately lifted by Mokuba, who rushed to his brother's side immediately.

"What did you think, Seto?" he asked eagerly, the anticipation clear on his face. "Did you like our act?"

Kaiba's expression softened as he looked down at his little brother. "You were excellent."

Mokuba beamed, and Yugi nodded. "I think Mokuba and Serenity both did a great job tonight."

Serenity felt her cheeks heat up as Kaiba gave her a disdainful glance. "Indeed," he agreed, and for a moment she thought he was actually complimenting her. Until – "an entire two-minute dance routine without falling flat on your face. I think that must be a new record for the Wheeler genes."

"Why you – " Joey growled, his hands clenched into fists. He took a threatening step towards Kaiba, but was stopped by the sound of his little sister's voice.

"Thank you, Mr. Kaiba," she said politely, gracing him with a small bow, "that's very kind of you."

Everyone was dumbstruck at her words, even Kaiba, who tilted his head as he looked at her, trying to figure out if she was playing a joke on him. Serenity, however, smiled sweetly at him, having truly meant what she said. She liked to see the best in things, and instead of choosing to see the insult he had just thrown at her family, she chose to see the well-hidden compliment he had given her for successfully completing her routine.

After a short silence, Kaiba chuckled. "It seems the Wheeler genes have not improved on intelligence, though. Well, I guess you can't expect too much from the lowest branch of human evolution."

Before anyone could respond to that, Kaiba turned, beckoning his little brother to follow him. "Let's go home, Mokuba. I have work to do."

He walked away briskly, leaving Mokuba no choice but to follow him. "I'm sorry for… him," he sighed to the group before he quickly ran after his brother. They could hear the two Kaiba's bickering until they left the auditorium.

"Man," Joey said, shaking his head, "I feel sorry for that kid sometimes. I mean, really, who has ever heard of a younger sibling who's more mature than the older one?"

Mai raised an eyebrow at him. "You're kidding, right?"

"What? No! Why?" Joey asked, confusing clear on his face.

The others all laughed as they started their way out of the auditorium, Mai giving Serenity a wink as they went. Despite the fact that Mai loved this particular older sibling dearly, even she couldn't deny that Serenity was years ahead of her brother when it came to maturity.

"No, seriously, what?" Joey asked again, trailing behind the others as they left. "What?!"

Serenity couldn't stifle a laugh of her own as she watched Joey circling around them, demanding to know exactly what was so funny. It was good to know some things would never change.

* * *

_Chapter 2, ladies and gentleman! The first contact between our favorite couple, and a bit of history on Serenity's dancing. I did some research on professional ballet, and it's a real cutthroat business. You have to start training at a very young age and keep at it intensively for the rest of you life to even get an audition at a ballet company. Oh, and if you're interested, Serenity dances the solo from the first act of the ballet _Giselle_, and I based her costume and dance on the variation danced by Alina Cojocaru, who, in my opinion, is a wonderful Giselle. If any of you are ballet lovers, you should look her up. She's awesome. __Well, that's all for now. If you have the time, please leave a review so I may improve my writing._


	3. Baked Goods

**Pas de Deux**

**_Summary:_** '_Her plié's were beautiful, her battements were perfect, her jeté's were exquisite and her pirouettes were flawless. She was the most graceful ballerina he had ever seen.' Seto Kaiba had not expected to see a dancer of her level and a high school talent show. He had also not expected her to be the most wonderful woman he had ever met. A Silentshipping request._

**_Disclaimer: _**_One day, I shall own Yu-Gi-Oh! But that day is not today._

**_Author's note: _**_And we are back, ladies and gentlemen, with the third thrilling installment of 'Pas de Deux'! Miraculously finished within the two-week time limit I set myself! I'm sure my mom would be proud... Anyway, I would like to thank everyone who has read, favorited, followed and reviewed this story so far! It really means a lot to me, and it is thanks to all of you that I was able to finish this chapter quickly. I hope everyone enjoys this new chapter, which is, unfortunately, again un-beta'd, as my dear beta reader Hug is still enjoying a nice vacation. So beware of mistakes, and have a good read!_

* * *

_**Chapter 3: Baked Goods**_

* * *

"Thank you, come again!" Serenity smiled cheerfully at the leaving customers. The sound of the bell above the door filled her ears as the last customers of the day excited the bakery.

With a great sigh, Serenity stretched her body, trying to soothe her aching muscles. She had been the only employee in the bakery today, because her co-worker had been informed that morning that his wife had gone into labor, and the bakery's owner had not been able to get anyone to cover for him on such short notice. As a result of that, Serenity had not only been responsible for her usual duties behind the counter, but also for baking and restocking any of the goods she was out of. Needless to say, after eight hours of this, Serenity was sore, tired and covered in different kinds of goo.

She couldn't say she minded, though. Sticky hands and sore muscles were well worth the fact that a brand-new father would be holding his firstborn child right about now. All she had asked for in return was to see lots and lots of cute baby pictures.

Smiling at the thought, Serenity began to wipe down the counter. It was only five minutes until closing time, so there probably wouldn't be any more costumers coming in today. She couldn't wait to get home and take a shower, although she knew she had to be quick about it. She still had a long night ahead of her at the Domino City's local theatre.

Serenity still didn't know how she got roped into all that. She had volunteered to help at the theatre one night every week during the summer, keeping it clean and neat while some of the regular staff were on a well-deserved vacation. One of the shows the theatre was working on was the ballet _Coppélia_, which was set to premier the next month. Then, during a rehearsal for the ballet, the ballerina chosen to play the part of Swanhilde tripped over a prop carelessly left on stage and broke her leg. As the theatre was small and had access to limited funds for its productions, the director of the ballet had not been able to hire an understudy for Swanhilde.

Familiar with Serenity's abilities as a ballerina, the director of the production had begged her to take over the role, as she was the only other ballerina who had seen the rehearsals and knew exactly what the director wanted from his leading lady. Incapable of refusing the director's desperate plea, Serenity had agreed, and before she knew it, she was spending five nights a week at the theatre, rehearsing for hours on end. That, in combination with her job at the bakery, made sure she barely had a minute to spare for anything else, including the birthday of her friend Mokuba today. Her brother and friends were all going to the Kaiba Mansion to celebrate that evening, and Serenity was very sad she couldn't join them. She had given Joey the present she had bought for Mokuba, along with a note of sincere apology, hoping the raven-haired boy would forgive her absence on his sixteenth birthday.

She sighed as she finished cleaning the counter, throwing the used paper towels into the trashcan. What made everything even worse was the fact she had not exactly told Joey and the others the truth about her many trips to the theatre, merely telling them she had taken up a few extra cleaning shifts because a couple of her fellow volunteers had recently come down with the flu. She felt awful for lying, especially to her big brother, but she knew very well how they would react if she told them she had somehow landed the lead role in a ballet. They would come to see her perform, and they would tell her they loved it. They would try to convince her to give her dream one more shot, to write another dozen letters to ballet companies. They would be sure she'd stand a much better chance now that she could add this production to her resume. And she would start to believe them, start to have some hope, and then have her dream crushed all over again.

No, she reminded herself firmly as she untied her apron, she wasn't going to get her hopes up again. She was going to medical school so she could become an ophthalmologist. She was going to help people keep their eyesight. She was going to have a successful career many would be envious of. And there was nothing she could do to change that.

She threw her apron into the bakery's laundry basket with a bit more force than necessary before she went over to the door to flip the sign which indicated whether the bakery was open or closed. She had barely taken a hold of the sign, however, when the door suddenly opened, and she could only just jump back in time to avoid a broken nose.

Standing in the doorway was a tall man dressed in an old pair of jeans, a faded t-shirt and a black baseball cap. Serenity stared up at him, bemused by his unexpected entrance. "Uhm... we're closed," she said lamely, pointing to the sign she had actually not flipped yet.

"Really?" the man asked sarcastically, glancing at the sign that still clearly read 'open'. "My mistake. I should have realized a Wheeler wouldn't be able to spell."

Serenity's head shot up, an embarrassed blush creeping up her cheeks as she saw a pair of disapproving blue eyes scan her goo-stained outfit. "Mr. Kaiba?" she asked, a bit dumbstruck. There was no mistaking his smooth voice and deep blue eyes, but... "Why are you dressed like that?"

"I don't think you're in any position to criticize my choice of fashion," he said with another glance at the many stains in her uniform, "but if you must know, I am wearing these clothes to prevent people recognizing me on the streets. I'd rather not be harassed while I'm picking up my brother's birthday cake."

Serenity's eyes lit up. "You're here for Mokuba's cake? Oh, you must be the one who ordered the Capsule Monsters cake!"

"That would be me, yes," Kaiba sighed regretfully. If it had been up to him, he would have just ordered a cake online. But no, Mokuba insisted on getting his birthday cake from 'that nice little bakery Serenity works at'. Of course, 'that nice little bakery' did not have a delivery service, and Mokuba had conveniently given all the servants the day off in honor of his birthday.

"I'll go get it for you," Serenity smiled at him before she disappeared through the door behind the counter, only to return seconds later carrying a large cardboard box. She carefully placed the box on the counter and gently lifted the lid so Kaiba could have a look.

A one-layered square chocolate cake for a party of twenty laid snugly in its cardboard protector. The top was covered in black and white fondant made to look like the pattern of a chessboard, and on multiple of the squares were miniature versions of various monsters from the game made out of modeling chocolate. All in all, the cake looked like a genuine playing field for Capsule Monsters Chess.

Kaiba was presently surprised. "Impressive," he admitted, nodding his approval. "Please give my compliments to the chef."

Serenity smiled as she replaced the lid on the box. "You just did, Mr. Kaiba."

"_You_ made this cake?" Kaiba asked, the obvious surprise in his voice almost insulting.

"Yes," Serenity said happily, "well, not the figurines, I could never do that, but I did bake the cake. It's my own recipe."

Kaiba glanced questionably at the now closed box. "And where do you get the time to write your own recipes? Shouldn't you be applying to ballet companies?"

The tone of his question was sarcastic, but in reality, Kaiba was very curious as to why Serenity was working at a bakery instead of a ballet company. A ballerina like her shouldn't be wasted on high school talent shows; she should be dancing in the grandest theaters all over the world. Kaiba could simply not believe a woman of her talent would choose not to do anything with it.

Serenity's smile saddened. "I already did," she sighed. "They all rejected me."

"Rejected you?" Kaiba asked, genuinely surprised. Why would they reject a dancer of her incredible skill? Were they blind?

Serenity nodded. "I fell behind on my dancing because of my failing eyesight. The ballet companies say I'm too old and inexperienced to even audition now."

"That's ridiculous," Kaiba snorted disdainfully. He knew for sure any of the companies she had applied for would have signed her immediately if they had just given her the chance to audition.

Serenity shook her head. "No, it's alright. They have to make a selection, and it's more than sensible for them to choose younger and more experienced dancers than I out of the applications. I wouldn't have picked myself to audition either."

Kaiba fixed her with an incredulous stare. "And that doesn't upset you?"

"It did," Serenity admitted, not meeting his eye. "I was devastated at first. But then I got accepted into medical school, and I realized I could still make something of myself. The earth is not going to stop spinning just because I won't get to pursue my dream."

Shaking his head, Kaiba took the cake-box from the counter. "Never picked you for a realist, Wheeler," he chuckled, a faint note of respect in his voice. "Good luck with the sick and needy."

"Thank you," Serenity called to Kaiba's retreating back, "and please tell Mokuba 'happy birthday' from me!"

At her last words, Kaiba abruptly stopped walking and turned to face her, his expression suddenly very serious. "Ah, yes, I wanted to have a word with you about that."

"About what?" Serenity asked, a bit unnerved by Kaiba's inquiring glare.

"Why, exactly, can't you be present at Mokuba's birthday party?"

Serenity paled. He couldn't have seen through her lie… could he? "Didn't Joey tell you?"

"Yes, he did say something about you being on cleaning duty at the theatre," Kaiba nodded, "but I find it hard to believe they wouldn't let you take one evening off to attend a friend's birthday party."

"Well… some of the other volunteers got the flu," Serenity tried to save her excuse, though she knew she couldn't look very convincing right now. "They couldn't find anyone else."

"And, of course, it is ever-so-important to have a tiny, barely-visited theatre cleaned every single night," Kaiba retorted, sarcasm dripping from his every word.

Serenity opened and closed her mouth a few times, trying to come up with something to counter his statement with. When she failed to think of anything, she sighed. "Alright. You win," she said, defeated, "but… please don't tell my brother."

"I'll decide that once you tell me what you're hiding," Kaiba said smugly, his trademark smirk plastered firmly on his face. As a matter of fact, he knew very well what Serenity was trying to keep from everyone. He had always appreciated the finer arts, and had therefore financially supported the struggling Domino Theatre for a few years now. He knew exactly which performances were shown in that theatre… and also who starred in them. He had known about Serenity being recast as Swanhilde not an hour after it had happened, and he was very much aware of the fact that Serenity would be going to the theatre that evening to rehearse for the part. What he didn't know, however, was why she chosen to lie to everyone instead of simply informing them of her involvement in _Coppélia_. And that was what he wanted to find out.

Serenity nodded. "Actually, one of the ballerinas working on the theatre's latest shows was injured during rehearsal, and the director asked me to fill in for her. I need to rehearse for the performance tonight."

"Hmm," Kaiba murmured, trying to look as though he hadn't heard that piece of information before. "And why do you want everyone to believe you are picking gum off of the theatre's seats instead of rehearsing for an actual ballet?"

"Because I'm not really a realist," Serenity sighed, fighting back tears. "If I tell everyone, they'll come to see me, and they'll encourage me to apply to more ballet companies. And I'll believe them, I'll get false hope again, and then have that hope crushed a second time."

She wiped away the single tear that had escaped her eye. "I just don't want to have my dream taken away from me again," she sniffed. "So… please don't tell the others about this."

Kaiba eyed her for a moment, then nodded curtly, and turned to resume his walk towards the door. Only after he had pulled it open did he turn back. "For what it's worth, Wheeler," he told her in a surprisingly soft tone, "you're more of a realist than I'd have thought."

With that, he stepped outside, leaving Serenity to wonder whether or not he had just given her a compliment.

* * *

_This chapter was strangely easy to write. I could really identify with Serenity and her reason not to tell her friends about her upcoming ballet performance in this chapter. There are few things worse in life than having hope against all hope, especially when that concerns something or someone dear to you. Because hope can crush you more than any other emotion can. So, next chapter will be Serenity's performance... Let's see if Kaiba can keep his word, or, well, his nod. Until next time!_


End file.
